​JLL and Tech Nation – supporting the growth of digital tech in the UK

JLL is immensely proud to have partnered with Tech Nation to launch its annual research report, Tech Nation 2018, at its first major event since the organisation came into being in April this year.

Tech Nation – the UK network for ambitious tech entrepreneurs – is a new organisation that combines and expands the activities and reach of Tech City UK and Tech North, which have been helping to accelerate the digital tech sector in London and the North of England. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced plans to create Tech Nation last November.

The organisation works to accelerate the growth of the digital tech sector across the UK, help ambitious founders succeed, increase digital skills, share learning and knowledge between sectors and communities and help present the UK tech sector on the world stage.

From a real estate perspective, we have seen the tech sector across the UK evolve and flourish as a world leader in digital innovation. This has led to it becoming an established occupier group, representing a significant proportion of take-up across the UK's most dynamic cities and business locations.

Tech has also helped to facilitated one of the most seismic shifts that the office environment has undergone – perhaps since open plan offices were introduced. Models such as coworking, agile working and incubator hubs were once synonymous with this sector and are now commonplace across most workplaces due to the proven results in fostering creativity and collaboration.

Property continues to offer both solutions and challenges to tech and digital enterprises in equal measure. We have seen the emergence of some of the most vibrant and contemporary developments, which have often transformed less developed areas into creative hubs, but we also understand that needs and requirements change extremely fast and the built environment cannot always provide the support it should.

JLL's involvement with Tech Nation will enable us to play in a key role in addressing some of the issues that the sector faces through collaboration with a wide range of players, all of whom bring unique knowledge, experience, and insight to the UK's most exciting business community.

This article was written by Michael Davis, Tech and Media Sector Lead.